Catholics Criticize Pope on Abuse Scandal, but See Some Hope

A majority of Roman Catholics in the United States are critical of the way Pope Benedict XVI and the Vatican have handled the reports of sexual abuse by priests, but have confidence in the Vatican to make changes to prevent abuse in the future, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll released Tuesday.

After five years of Pope Benedict’s papacy, Catholics in the United States are estranged from the hierarchy in Rome, with most saying the Vatican is out of touch with the needs of Catholics and more than three out of four saying it is not necessary to believe in the pope’s authority to be a good Catholic.

But they feel differently about their parish priest, with a majority saying that most priests understand Catholics’ needs and that they trust their own priest with their children. In fact, the poll suggests that for most American Catholics, the resurgence of the abuse scandal is like a far-off storm. They say it has had no effect on their Mass attendance, their financial contributions or their participation in their parishes.

Only one in 10 Catholics now say the clergy sexual abuse issue is prompting them to consider leaving the church. That is a marked contrast from the height of the scandal in the United States, in 2002, when about one in five Catholics said they considered leaving.

While the scandal in 2002 focused on American bishops, starting in Boston, who had failed to remove abusive priests, recent news media reports have focused on the scandal’s outbreak in Europe and on whether the Vatican and the pope are culpable.

The Vatican and many American bishops have reacted by attacking the news media, and it appears they have struck a chord. The poll shows that slightly more Catholics believe the news media have blown the story out of proportion than those who say it has been accurately reported. Most say the news media have been harder on the Catholic Church than on other religions. Those who attend Mass regularly are even more critical of the news media.

Many Catholic respondents indicated that they saw a change in how their church had handled the sexual abuse problem over time. A broad majority of Catholics said that in the past, the Vatican and American bishops were far more focused on covering up sexual abuse by priests than preventing it, but that now the reverse was true.

But a majority said sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests was still going on.

Betsy Conrath, who is 60 and a retired weather broadcaster in Spokane, Wash., said in a follow-up interview: “They are not going to cover up any more and hope and pray it will just go away. Now that the pope has a handle on it, things will change.

“I have been totally saddened by all of this,” Ms. Conrath said, “but I’m still very much a Catholic and have not lost my faith in my religion.”

Norbert Wellman, 71, a retiree in West Point, Iowa, who worked for a chemical company and a state prison, said: “Since the news came out and was spread around in all the newspapers, they got the idea they’re going to have to do the best they can to fix the problem. I think before, maybe, they thought it wouldn’t get out.”

Nearly half of those polled said Benedict’s leadership of the church had been “a mixed blessing,” and only one in four said his leadership had helped the church. But his personal favorability rating is more positive than negative. Forty-three percent say they have a favorable opinion of him, and only 17 percent have an unfavorable view. Still, 38 percent express no opinion about him at all, a decidedly blank reaction to a pope who made a highly publicized trip to the United States only two years ago and has issued three encyclicals, or formal teaching letters, on morality or doctrine. The pope’s favorability rating is higher among those who attend Mass regularly: 63 percent.

The recurrence of the sexual abuse scandal has renewed the debate among some Catholic commentators who argue that there is an underlying problem in the priesthood attributable to celibacy, homosexuality or the male-only-clergy culture. The poll shows that most Catholics are unconvinced of their arguments. Three in 10 said the celibacy requirement for Catholic priests was a major factor contributing to sexual abuse of minors, while nearly as many said it was only a minor factor and more than a third said it was not a factor. Results are similar on the question of whether homosexuality in the priesthood contributes.

Only 17 percent said the all-male priesthood was a major factor in the abuse problem, while a majority said it was not a factor.

Nonetheless, for more than 20 years, majorities of Catholics have consistently said they are in favor of ordaining women and married men as priests. That trend holds true today, with 6 in 10 saying they favor women’s ordination, and two-thirds favoring married priests. Even majorities of weekly churchgoers are in favor of opening the priesthood to women and married men.

Mary Dunham, a 64-year-old quilter and crafter in Orfordville, Wis., said in a follow-up interview: “The sexual abuse issue goes back to the Vatican. They allowed it to be covered up for so long because they didn’t want the church to look bad. Had a woman been pope, she wouldn’t have allowed it. She would have strung up these guys herself.”

The nationwide telephone poll was conducted from April 28 to May 2 with 412 Catholics. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus five percentage points.

A version of this article appears in print on May 5, 2010, on page A13 of the New York edition with the headline: Catholics Criticize Pope on Abuse Scandal, but See Some Hope. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe